AI @ UM: Artificial Intelligence Newsletter for the UM Community

What's New:
AI, Research, and Why Using the Right Tool Matters

A recent announcement from the artificial intelligence (AI) research and deployment company OpenAI sparked discussion across the research community when one of its AI systems produced a proposed solution to the Navier-Stokes Millennium Prize Problem, one of mathematics' most famous unsolved challenges.

While the mathematics itself is significant, the broader conversation has focused on how AI systems are trained and used, particularly when researchers work with unpublished ideas, intellectual property, or sensitive information. Questions raised by the announcement have highlighted growing concerns about data privacy, attribution, and trust in AI-assisted research.

For faculty, staff, students, and researchers, the takeaway is straightforward: where you use AI matters.

When working with unpublished research, proprietary information, or other sensitive content, it is important to use AI tools that provide enterprise-level data protection. At the University of Miami, AI tools such as Copilot for Microsoft 365 and Gemini provide enterprise data protection, helping ensure that University data remains within a protected environment and is not used to train public AI models.

By choosing University-supported AI tools, you can take advantage of powerful AI capabilities while helping safeguard your research, data, and intellectual property.

Adobe Firefly: More Than AI Image Generation

Many people associate Adobe Firefly with creating images from a text prompt, but the platform now includes tools for generating and editing images, creating video clips, producing audio narration and music, designing vector graphics, and enhancing existing content.

Whether you're creating course materials, marketing content, presentations, research communications, or event promotions, Adobe Firefly offers a growing set of AI-powered creative tools in one web application.

Five Ways You Can Use Adobe Firefly:

1. Create custom images for presentations, websites, and communications.

Generate original images from a text description instead of searching stock photo libraries. You can create visuals tailored to a specific topic, audience, color scheme, or style.

• Example: Create a custom image for a department newsletter, conference presentation, or campus event flyer.

2. Edit and enhance existing images.

Firefly can remove backgrounds, replace unwanted objects, expand image borders, apply new styles, and generate new elements within an image.

• Example: Transform a standard campus photo into a polished banner image for a website or presentation.

3. Generate short videos from text or images.

Create video clips by describing a scene or animating an existing image. This can be useful for promotional content, social media, or visual storytelling.

• Example: Turn a static event graphic into a short, animated video for digital signage or social media.

4. Create audio content.

Generate voiceovers and original music tracks directly within Firefly. This can help bring presentations, announcements, training content, and videos to life.

• Example: Add narration to a student orientation video or generate background music for a promotional piece.

5. Design scalable graphics and creative assets.

Firefly can generate vector artwork that remains sharp at any size, making it useful for diagrams, illustrations, icons, and design projects.

• Example: Create custom icons, infographic elements, or visual concepts for teaching and communications materials.

Tips for Better Results:

• Be specific when writing prompts. Include details about the subject, style, lighting, colors, audience, and desired format.
• Upload an existing image as inspiration when you want Firefly to match a particular look and feel.
• Select the appropriate aspect ratio before generating content to reduce rework.
• Experiment with styles, effects, and composition settings to refine results.
• Save outputs you like and build a library of successful prompts for future projects.

To learn more, visit the Adobe Firefly informational webpage.

Upcoming Events and Workshops:
Fall 2026 Copilot Lunch and Learn Sessions

If you haven't already done so, we invite you to register for the Fall 2026 line-up of Copilot Lunch and Learn sessions!

These sessions explore the latest Copilot for Microsoft 365 capabilities and are designed to help you get more from Copilot and bring AI-powered efficiency to your daily work.

Upcoming Sessions:

Past Sessions:

In addition, we invite you to join the University of Miami's AI enablement team for open office hours designed to support and inspire our community's exploration of AI.

Whether you're a student, faculty member, researcher, or staff, this is your opportunity to engage directly, ask questions, and share your thoughts on how AI can shape our future.

The Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine's 2026 AI Challenge

The Dept. of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine's AI Challenge is a hands-on program built around a simple idea: You learn AI by building with it.

Open to faculty, trainees, and staff of all technical backgrounds, participants are learning to create AI-powered agents using University-supported tools such as Copilot for Microsoft 365, Copilot Studio, Power Automate, and Copilot Cowork. No coding experience is required.

The AI Challenge consists of three phases: building an initial AI agent, developing a second solution with a defined value proposition, and presenting projects at a final showcase. Participants commit approximately two hours per week through a combination of guided sessions and independent work.

Since launching in August, the cohort has already created and deployed working AI agents, including an AI Challenge FAQ agent built collaboratively during a recent session. Participants quickly adapted the concepts to develop solutions tailored to their own teams and workflows.

By emphasizing hands-on experience with enterprise AI tools, the AI Challenge is helping foster AI literacy, innovation, and responsible AI adoption across the University's education, research, clinical, and administrative missions.

Have questions? Feel free to contact Dr. Yanyun Wu at yxw1366@miami.edu.

More AI-related tips, training opportunities, and community highlights will be shared in future editions of the AI newsletter. If you haven't already done so, sign up to receive the AI newsletter directly in your inbox:

If you're curious about how AI can support your team, we encourage you to explore, experiment, and join our office hours.

If you have any questions, contact us at ai@miami.edu.